how we look at things

- is never the same. it takes but a moment to change focus, look deeper or not focus at all. and then it is but another world.
you see what you choose to see. that is, if you can see at all. two sets of shutters opening a single view of – the world. there are so many steps to opening that last shutter...
probably the first step is just getting out, into the world. physically experiencing the matter that makes up our surroundings, and exciting our five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste - and last but not least - touch.
sight goes the furthest and most often gets you to places before you have reached your destination. the good old one could get you to the next hill, but now you can gaze upon the world through the window of a passing jet. and there are those sights that can take you back into the past, or even into the fantasy world that exists only in other people's minds. and it is great to show what you see...
sound gets around corners, and reaches the ears, giving us depth of space and richness of vibration. ever try walking down your hallway in total darkness, just jiggling your keys? ever imagine the finesse of spoken language that is lost when you take out the subtle sighs, short laughs, sobs, cries, murmurs, sounds of kisses... not to mention music. i would trade sex for music.
smell is the language of chemistry. chemistry becomes personal, but this form is one of distance. you can smell someone from across the room (hopefully - not), or the person that was in the elevator before you, the neighbor's dinner, roses in the garden, the cappuccino that is about to touch your lips. the smell of the city. this is the one that covers everything. just like everything that is "good for you" is supposed to not taste attractive, the smell of bad stuff is always stronger than anything good or pleasant. or is it just how we’re wired?
but taste is what gets you intimate. to taste is to consume, to ingest, to become at one, to achieve atonement. there is no cheating - there is no keeping distance. there is no greater experience. you might get a metal plate in your head, or an artificial hip, but the only consuming experience is that which results in taste. if might be the taste of your lover's lips, or that excellent spaghetti you had in that small italian village, or the bug you swallowed while on your bike, but its there. in you. forever. yet you will never be able to recall it. remember it - yes, but never bring it back to memory on demand. strange was the idea of the Designer - give you so much, but never everything.
then there’s the touch. touching and being touched. from putting your hand in coffee grains, running fingers over your lovers exposed skin, to the rubbery traction of a racquet grip, feeling air wrap around your bare torso as you run and the kitten’s licking tongue.
and that’s how we experience our surroundings. the physical surroundings…
which has nothing to do with how we actually understand the world and what it really means to us.